KEY DATES FOR THE 2011-12 SEASON

After some delay, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League finally unveiled their 2011-12 regular season schedule today.

With the Lewiston Maineiacs (RIP) now gone, the league will be made of 17-teams this season. A total of 578 games will be played with each team having 34 home and 34 road dates.

Here are some of the key dates on the Saint John Sea Dogs’ schedule:

• As the league champion does every season, the Sea Dogs will open the year on a Thursday prior to the rest of the league kicking off. Saint John will host the rival Moncton Wildcats for their home opener which will take place on September 8 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station. The Sea Dogs will raise a number of banners that night, most notably the President’s Cup and Memorial Cup ones.
• Because it wouldn’t the regular season without Saint John playing in Bathurst on the first Friday night of the campaign, the Sea Dogs will travel north to play the Titan on September 9.
• For the third straight year, Saint John’s first Quebec road game will played against the Montreal Junior franchise. The Junior relocated to Blainville-Boisbriand making the Wednesday, September 28 contest the first time the Sea Dogs will play in the city.
• Saint John’s first three-game Quebec road swing will played from September 28 to October 2 with stops in Boisbraind, Drummondville, and Victoriaville.
• The Victoriaville Tigres, who Saint John eliminated from the playoffs last year, make their return to Harbour Station on Sunday, October 9.
• Saint John visits Gatineau on October 12 in a rematch of the President’s Cup final.
• Because of arena renovations, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies will start the season with a 12-game road trip. The Sea Dogs will play in the Huskies home opener on October 14.
• According to the Halifax Mooseheads Twitter, the Herd will likely host their ‘Pink in the Rink’ game on October 21 against Saint John.
• Patrick Roy and the Quebec Remparts make their first appearance at Harbour Station on Sunday, October 23.
• Gabriel Bourret and Guillaume Cloutier return to Saint John as members of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Saturday, October 29.
• If the Baie-Comeau Drakkar pull off a miracle and somehow woo Nathan MacKinnon to join their club, they play at Harbour Station on November 13.
• We’re predicting that the Wednesday, November 16 game against Rouyn-Noranda will be the least attended game at Harbour Station this season.
• The game we’ve all been waiting for happens on Saturday, December 3 as the Memorial Cup hosting Shawinigan Cataractes make their first of two Saint John appearances. The Cataractes come to town again on January 12.
• The Sea Dogs close out the first half with three straight road games.
• There are no games scheduled between December 19 and 26 due to the Holidays.
• The annual Sea Dogs-Wildcats New Year’s Eve game will be held in Moncton this year. Game time is 7:00 pm. The two rivals meet again on January 2 at Harbour Station for an ultra-rare Monday game.
• Gatineau visits Saint John on January 4.
• The new Blainville-Boisbriand franchise make their first and only Harbour Station appearance on Sunday, January 29.
• Saint John will play their first of two road games in Shawinigan on January 4. They will return to the Memorial Cup host cite on March 11.
• The Sea Dogs’ final regular season home game takes place on Saturday, March 3 against Bathurst.
• The Dogs will close out the season with five straight road games. Their seventh season ends on Saturday, March 17 in Cape Breton.
• The playoffs will likely start on Friday, March 23.

Sea Dogs training camp will open sometime in mid-August. Their pre-season schedule was released a couple of days ago.

Is it August yet?